In an age where giving lifts to strangers is mostly advised against, this family sees it as their preferred option to get to India, for environmental and social reasons.

Mr Jones and Ms Ulman do not own a car, have not been overseas in 20 years, and wanted to show their son the world, in the least polluting way possible.

“We’ve done a lot of travel before on bicycles and hitching and public transport in Australia,” Mr Jones said.